Is Jesus recrucified and resacrificed at every Mass as some would allege?

There are people who speak against the Catholic Mass because they think Jesus is being resacrificed. In fact a man by the name of Kimbal voiced his opposition to the Mass on this basis. “Mass is a ritual officiated by a priest in which Christ's body is recrucified and resacrificed for atonement of an individual sin”

First of all the Catholic Church has never taught, in the entire history of the Church, that we recrucify and resacrifice Christ at any Mass.

Here is some of their reasoning. They start by quoting Peter, “For Christ suffered for sins ONCE, the righteous…” (1Pt 3:18). Their point is simple; if Christ is resacrificed at every Mass then the Church would be wrong because Christ suffered ONCE on the cross. Of course the error in their thinking presupposes that we resacrifice Jesus over and over again at every Mass, something we do not do. We offer Jesus at every Mass and we do it often. Furthermore, Jesus asks us to do this often (1 Cor 11:25-26).

We do not teach that we are crucifying Jesus again and again, but each time we are present again at the original sacrifice. What they have done is to misrepresent Catholic teaching by calling it a “resacrifice” rather than the “original” sacrifice. And then they show how their misrepresentation is not Biblical. Actually, I agree with them; their misrepresentation is not Biblical. However, their misrepresentation is not Catholic teaching. It is their misrepresentation and their teaching.

They go into Hebrews in an attempt to show that the Mass is wrong because we offer Jesus often at every Mass. Not that he might offer himself REPEATEDLY, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer REPEATEDLY from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice. Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him. (Hebrews 9:25-28).

Now the detractors of the Mass take this to mean you cannot offer Jesus OFTEN at every Mass because it says, Not that he might offer himself repeatedly. And because we offer Jesus OFTEN, they see the Mass being at odds with Christ one sacrifice.

The problem with this line of thinking is that Hebrews 9 is not contrasting Jesus one time sacrifice with the sacrifice of the Mass, where Jesus is being offered often. It is contrasting the sacrifice of Christ with the blood of Animals. Take a look at verse 25 and notice that it says with blood that is not his own. In verse 19, the text tells us what this blood is “He took the blood of calves and goats.”

So the repeated offering that is no longer necessary in verse 25 is animal sacrifice. Animal sacrifices were many and repeated. Jesus sacrifice was one. So in order for the Catholic Mass to be in violation of Hebrews 9 we would have to offer repeated animal sacrifices at every Mass, but of course we don’t; we offer Jesus and we do it, often.

Many times people have suggested to me that the book of Hebrews proves the Catholic Mass is not Biblical. They wanted me to believe that receiving Jesus in communion was the sacrifice that can never take away sins. They never bring up the fact that the sacrifices that that can never take away sins in Hebrews were animal sacrifices. This would surprise me because when I would bring it up theywouldn’t deny it, so this means they were deliberately using the Bible out of context. “for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins”(Heb 10:4).

Of course loyalty to their tradition would leave them undaunted and they would still insist that the Mass was wrong because doesn’t Hebrews say “Not that he might offer himself repeatedly… Christ, offered once (Heb 9:25-28). Jesus is offered in Mass OFTEN, weekly and even daily. And because we receive Jesus OFTEN, they believe it is in violation of Hebrews 9.

However, they don’t realize, it was Jesus who suggested that we do this often. “In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as OFTEN as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as OFTEN as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes”(1 Cor 11:25-26). We do this at every Mass. There are people who say this is heresy; that we are resacrificing Jesus over and over again. But, it isn’t heresy, or Jesus wouldn’t have asked us to do this often.

So the fact that we offer the Body and blood of Jesus in the form of bread and wine, OFTEN was not a problem for Paul and not problem for Jesus. It is only a problem for those who have taken Scripture out of context for the sake of their tradition. Those who claim that we cannot receive Jesus OFTEN in Communion are at odds with Jesus and the Bible that they claim to believe.